This film, taken from the James Griffin Collection, consists of two shots relating to the annual Oxford and Cambridge University Boat Race, almost certainly shot by different cinematographers on separate occasions. The first shot, of a Boat Race crew watched by crowds as they carry their boat to the river, has not been identified, though it is believed that it does not depict either of the 1897 crews. The second shot is now assumed to be of the Cambridge crew practising for the race, shot in March 1897 by actuality pioneer Birt Acres, probably from the stern of the 'Hibernia'. John Barnes, author of The Rise of the Cinema in Great Britain (1983), believes this to be the first authentic travelling shot in British cinema. Michael Brooke
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